“Buttons” on the left with John Moffat at the 2015 Scottish Six Days Trial during the daily Nevis Radio outside broadcast – Photo courtesy of Tony Jones
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of a true character of the sport of motorcycle trials, “Buttons” or John Button as he was known.
Buttons attended the Scottish Six Days Trial many times in his capacity as a mechanic, whose training went back to the days of the Bultaco tuning wizard, Reg May of Comerfords.
During the 2015 Scottish, Buttons popped in almost daily to visit the Outside Broadcasts of Nevis Radio where he kept listeners and the radio presenters in stitches with his quick wit and humour during the week.
Buttons had battled with cancer for some years and had planned to spectate at the recent Scott Trial, but illness prevented him from doing so.
Trials Guru conveys sincere condolences to his family at this difficult time.
Funeral Arrangements: The funeral service for Alfred John Button (Buttons) will held on Thursday 12th November 2015 at 12.30pm at Rainsbrook Crematorium. Ash Lawn Road. Rugby. Warwickshire. CV22 5ET. please no flowers, donations to Macmillan nurses are welcome.
Famous Scottish Six and Pre’65 Scottish section, Pipeline – Photo: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven
The entries are open for the 2016 Pre’65 Scottish Trial which takes place on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April, 2016.
If you would prefer to a set of forms posted out to you, please send a large, stamped, self-addressed envelope to Mrs. Anne Gordon, Secretary Pre’65 Scottish Trial, Fairshiels, Blackshiels, Pathhead, Midlothian, EH37 5SX. Please note: that e-mail entries or late entries will NOT be accepted under any circumstances.
A new machine eligibility guidance booklet has been produced this year by Willie Stewart, the event’s machine examiner, which gives clearer guidelines on what is eligible for the annual highland classic. Anyone who is unsure of any component is welcome to contact him for clarification using the email address provided in the booklet. Please take the time to read these guidelines and the accompanying notes to ensure that you are aware of the regulations and remember to send two clear A4 (297mm x 210mm) colour pictures with your entry form. If your pictures are not clear then your entry will not make the ballot process so please be aware.
Rob Edwards on Blackwater in 1977. One of a number of photographs from Iain Lawrie that have never before been seen. Exclusive to Trials Guru. Copyright: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven.
Trials Guru friendly photographer, Iain Lawrie from Kinlochleven has just unearthed a number of photographs taken at the 1977 Scottish Six Days Trial. Many thanks to Iain for allowing Trials Guru to publish these.
Multiple World Trials Champion, Adam Raga has signed for TRS, the trials machine developed by former World Champion, Jordi Tarres. Photo: TRS Motorcycles
TRS Motorcycles UK have released the following information 14th September 2015 –
“TRS Motorcycles UK are delighted with the news from the TRS Factory and Jordi Tarres that Adam Raga has signed a contract to join the team as their number 1 rider.
Adam needs no introduction as former multiple World Champion, and recently confirmed 2015 World number two, he is a brilliant rider and ambassador for trials and the brands he represents.
Adam’s first UK appearance on the TRS One is likely to be at Sheffield indoor on January 9th.
All of us at TRS Motorcycles UK wish the team a successful 2016 season”.
Trials Guru: This is exciting news as Adam Raga was the protege of Jordi Tarres back in the late 1990’s. The 33 year old six times World Champion from Ulldecona, Catalonia, Spain will be a force to reckon with given his performances in the 2015 world series on a private Gas Gas machine, finishing runner up to Montesa/Honda rider Toni Bou. The UK importer for TRS is 11 times British Trials Champion, Steve Saunders.
Yamscot was the Competition and Racing section of Aberdeen’s Shirlaws dealership in the 1970’s.
The annual Highland Classic Two-Day Trial for 2016 will be held on 11/12 June and will pay homage to Yamscot, the competition part of Shirlaws Motorcycles, Aberdeen back in the 1970’s.
The brainchild of the late managing director, Leslie Shirlaw, it was created to promote Yamaha off-road and racing in Scotland. At the time Shirlaws were a Yamaha dealer, nowadays they are main Kawasaki dealers.
It is hoped that a glittering display of Yamaha trials machines will be at the event as well as some of the original Yamscot supported trials riders.
Yamscot were involved in trials, motocross and racing over a ten year period.
The event, promoted by Inverness & District Motorcycle Club Ltd will be held on the Alvie Estate, near Aviemore and the identity of the Guest of Honour will be announced nearer the event.
The trial itself was over-subscribed in 2015 and entry forms will be released for the 2016 event on 20th February.
2016 will be the 11th time the event has been run as a two day trial, the first year, 2004 was a one-day affair.
Previous Guests of Honour at the Highland Classic include Yrjo Vesterinen (2013), Dave Thorpe (2014) and Bill Wilkinson (2015).
The event is open to ACU,SACU & MCUI trials licence card holders and cater for both Pre’65 & twin-shock trials machines.
Stop Press: 2016 Guest of Honour – MICK ANDREWS
Roddy Taylor’s generously sponsored Yamaha TZ racing machine from 1987 (Yamscot) | Photo copyright: Ronnie Weir, Edinburgh.
Trials Guru tells the story of a trials rider turned movie stunt performer.
Words: John Moffat
Photos: Iain Lawrie; Debbie Evans-Leavitt
Debbie Evans number 112 (Yamaha 175) at the 1978 Scottish Six Days, this is the final machine inspection in down-town Fort William parc ferme. Number 109 is Mick Wilkinson (Ossa).
Over the years there have been numerous female riders compete in the annual Scottish Six Days Trial, which had traditionally been a male dominated sport. Times have now changed with female competitors very much the norm.
Before the Second World War, there was Louie McLean, Edyth Foley and Marjorie Cottle. Post-war, the 1950’s had Mollie Briggs, Lesley Blackburn, Olga Kevelos and Gwen Wickham; the 1960’s had Jill Savage and Renee Bennett. They had one thing in common, they were all British, but in the late seventies a female rider emerged who inspired even more women to compete in trials and the ‘Scottish’ than ever before, and she was the first female rider from overseas to compete in the SSDT, an American called Debbie Evans.
Trials Guru was fortunate to catch up with Debbie, now Evans-Leavitt having married her trials riding boyfriend Lane Leavitt, during a hectic schedule in Glasgow city centre, Scotland in September 2012 when filming for ‘The Fast & the Furious 6’ an action-packed movie which was released in May 2013.
Debbie refuses to slow down in an amazingly tight schedule which took her to England, twice, Scotland and Tenerife for filming plus a short break to go home to the United States to see her first grandchild born. I still couldn’t believe that I was talking with a stunt-performing grand-mother!
Born in 1958, Debbie, originally from Lakewood, now resident in Santa Clarita, California has been in the movie business for just over thirty-three years. She has stunt-doubled for some of the world’s best known superstars including Carrie-Ann Moss in ‘Matrix Reloaded’ – 2003; Linda Hamilton in ‘The Terminator: Judgement Day’ – 1991 and many more. Have a look at the credits of some of the world’s most famous action-packed films and you will see the name ‘Debbie Evans’ appear in more than just a few. Her speciality is car and motorcycle stunt performance and she has appeared in over two-hundred movies and TV programmes which included ‘CHiPS’ & ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’.
The Scottish connection…
Debbie Evans on Blackwater sections in 1978 on her 175cc TY175 Yamaha. Debbie came 109th position on 473 marks. Photo copyright: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven, Scotland.
Having followed the history of the SSDT and watched Lane in action at the Six Days, I got to know Debbie and her three time AMA National Trials Champion husband back in 2007, when I put together an audio-visual presentation of the SSDT in the February of that year for the Fort William Mountain Film Festival.
Permission was sought to use material from Debbie’s website as part of the presentation, just for a bit of extra interest for the audience, which she willingly gave.
Debbie had entered the 1978 Scottish Six Days Trial on a TY175 Yamaha supplied by Gordon Farley Motorcycles, Aldershot, Hmpshire, England and her airline ticket was paid for by Yamaha USA. Lane had also competed in previous Scottish Six Days his first being 1973, as a supported rider for both the Spanish Bultaco and laterly Montesa factories.
Sunday lunch…
Having discovered that she would be in the UK during filming for the forthcoming ‘Fast 6’ movie, Debbie sent me a message via Lane through facebook which read: “Hi John, I’m sending my wife to Scotland in a few days. Maybe you guys can get together? She may have some cool stuff for you!”
On making contact upon her arrival in England, she suggested that we meet up with her one Sunday afternoon, when she was between filming schedules in Glasgow. Part of the car chase footage was shot late at night in city-centre Glasgow, including the famous George Square area.
After a pleasant lunch in Glasgow’s Princes Square, we all go back to Debbie’s hotel and ‘Skype call’ Lane in the USA, who takes us a virtual tour around the couple’s home. Lane picks out their Scottish Six Days trophies and Debbie’s stunt trophies and awards; culminating in a quick tour of their impressive garage.
Debbie was an accomplished trials rider when she began motion picture stunt performing at the age of twenty. I asked her how she entered into the movie business.
She explained: “I wondered why so many stunts involving women were carried out by male performers dressed to look like females? I thought… hey, I could do that… I researched it further and eventually obtained the necessary regulatory permissions and began training for my new chosen career with established professional stunt performers.”
The rest is history, Evans-Leavitt is a multiple award winner obtaining seven Red Bull Stunt ‘Taurus awards’ and was inducted into the American Motorcycle Association – Motorcyclist Hall of Fame in 2003.
Unique…
Debbie is probably the only competitor world-wide who can static balance a trials motorcycle upside down with her head on the seat, the bike is not supported in any way and the only extra piece of equipment is a rubber band on the front brake lever! Eric Kitchen was on hand in 1978 to photograph this very stunt, right in the middle of the traffic roundabout at the West End of Fort William, now an iconic SSDT photo.
Debbie performing her world famous ‘head-stand’ on the roundabout in down-town Fort William, Scotland, prior to the 1978 Scottish Six Days. Photo: Worldwide copyright, Eric Kitchen. All rights reserved.
In movies, she is best known for the 2001 award-winning scene where she doubled for actress Michelle Rodriguez in the Fast & the Furious. Debbie drove a tuned Honda Civic hatch-back under an artic semi-trailer at high speed, ending in a barrel-roll when emerging out the other side.
“…being a stunt-woman is that you get to ride fast motorcycles and drive real cool cars” – Debbie in a classic Jaguar with son Daniel – Photo: Lane Leavitt Archive – All rights reserved.
Debbie says: “I have to keep physically fit and in shape but the real neat part about being a stunt-woman is that you get to ride fast motorcycles and drive real cool cars!”
Dreaming…
Back to that Scottish Six Days ride at Fort William in May 1978, it was for Debbie the event of her lifetime. Debbie takes up the story:
“I had harboured a secret wish to ride in the ‘Scottish’ when I was quite young. I got into trials at the age of six with the help of my father Dave Evans, who was already an established trials and enduro rider in the USA and it was he who taught me all I know about bike control. I then read all about the Scottish Six Days in the American motorcycle press. I never really thought it was possible until an Englishman called Bill Emmison of BERM Specialities, a UK company which imported US off-road products. Bill on a visit to source parts asked me what I really wanted to do and on hearing my crazy wish said he could arrange the trip to Scotland and make it all happen. I was overjoyed at the thought of actually competing in the Six Days, for me it was truly a real dream come true. I hadn’t told anyone previously, because I believed it to be too wild to ever come true!
I packed my heavy bags and took a pair of handlebars, grips, foot-pegs and my Bell helmet and spent a few days sight-seeing in London on my own, before heading north to Fort William.
Bill supplied me with some riding suits, my riding number was one-hundred and twelve and so I rode all week in the company of Mick Wilkinson and Rob Shepherd, two of the best riders in Britain at the time and guys who knew their way around Scotland. The whole experience for a nineteen year old girl was really awesome; the Scottish was a great adventure!”
She continued: “Riding over the tracks and moors with Mick as my guide was great fun, Lane told me to ‘stick to this guy like glue’, which I did! However, I probably stuck to him too well and one day when hauling across a moor, Mick suddenly pulled up, I sat and waited for a little while, then he turned around and said, ‘Debbie! Can you sort of disappear for a minute, the call of nature beckons’ – or words to that effect?”
Wilkinson…
Mick Wilkinson remembers all too well the 1978 event with Debbie Evans in tow!
Mick recounts: “Soon after the trial started, I said to Rob (Shepherd), come on Rob let’s have a bit of fun, let’s leave this American lass on’t moor. We took off at a cracking rate as we knew where we were going and after a few miles we looked round. To our surprise, there she was, slap bang on our back mudguards. We didn’t try to pull that trick again!”
After their marriage Lane and Debbie had planned to ride once more in the 1980 Scottish together, but when they discovered that she was expecting their first child, Steve, this put paid to that idea and she reluctantly but sensibly withdrew her entry. The couple had another son, Daniel born in 1994.
On the left is Alan Wright, former Suzuki team rider and Telford Show organiser. On the right, Debbie Evans-Leavitt, the American trials rider turned movie stunt perfomer. Photographed here at the Scottish Six Days Trial on Pipeline in May 1978 by Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven, Scotland. (All rights reserved.)
Inspiration…
But by then, Evans had already unwittingly captivated a whole new generation of women trials riders, one of which was Lisa Bayley (then Lisa Jones) from Sutton, Surrey who herself was inspired by reading about Debbie’s 1978 ride to compete herself in the 1981 Scottish at the tender age of eighteen on a 200cc SWM modified from a 125cc by her Father, Derek Jones.
Lisa Jones was so inspired by Debbie’s SSDT ride in 1978 that she trained hard and entered the 1981 event on a 200cc SWM prepared by her father Derek. – Photo: Derek Jones, Surrey, England.
Having read and been inspired by Evans, Lisa never actually met Debbie in person, although she did get to know former US National and World Champion, Bernie Schreiber during his time at Comerfords, Thames Ditton in 1979 and later, when on trips to the US riding Fantic.
Debbie on Town Hall Brae in down-town Fort William in 1978 – Photo: Iain C Clark, Fort William, Scotland (All rights reserved)
Fitness coach Lisa commented: “I was truly inspired by Debbie Evans’ 1978 ride at the Scottish which I did twice. For me it is the most brilliant event in the world. I have run in both the New York & London Marathons in 2005 and 2006; they were far easier by a long shot than the 600 miles and 180 Scottish sections of fantastic challenging and on some-days, impossible terrain. In my lifetime I have risen to the challenge of the hardest marathon and finished New York in three hours forty-eight minutes and London in three hours thirty-eight minutes, well within a veterans’ respectable timeframe, but still the SSDT was the hardest ever human achievement and the most enjoyable I have ever undertaken.”
Debbie in the 1978 Scottish Six Days. Photo copyright: Jimmy Young, Armadale, Scotland. (All rights reserved)
Bloodline…
Motorcycle observed trials is in Debbie’s blood, her father, Dave Evans is the guy who wheelies a Bultaco Sherpa for miles near the beginning of the Bruce Brown film ‘On Any Sunday’ the definitive bike-sport movie of all time. Her sister, Donna Evans is also a stunt performer, having worked with Debbie in a number of motion pictures.
Debbie in 1979. The top right image is Debbie doubling for Lynda Carter in the TV series, Wonder Woman – Photo copyright: Michael Vendrel, USA.
Debbie: “Being a trials rider really helped me throughout my stunt career, because you walk the section and memorise in your head many things, like when to go up or down a gear, where to brake, where to make the turn or change direction, which part is slippery and so on. The same thing applies when performing a motion picture stunt; you walk the set and plan everything, very carefully. It’s technical, just like trials. However, I knew that I would never make a living from just riding trials, at that time there were very few who were professional riders world-wide, whereas I could at movie stunt-performing. I grew up with trials riding ‘no-stop’; stop-allowed was alien to me. We do stunts no-stop too!”
Debbie in a scene from the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ a CBS network TV series. She doubled for the postmistress and Hazzard Gazette reporter, Miz “Emma” Tisdale who delivered parcels by motorcycle.
Debbie stayed fairly loyal to the Yamaha brand during her riding years, having gained support from the company via their USA importers and promoted the brand wherever she rode.
After a eighteen years away from the sport, Debbie made a brief return to competitive trials in 1998, when she rode in the Women’s World Trials Championships. She was now forty years of age, but came a creditable eighth place overall, riding a 250cc Gas Gas.
Today…
Debbie tries out Lane’s Bultaco for size in his office. Photo: Lane Leavitt.
Lane, now a respected stunt technician in the US movie business still has a collection of interesting Bultaco trials machines and some modern road bikes to hand, as the area in which the Leavitts live is ‘canyon country’ and a Sunday afternoon ride out with the family is very much the order of the day.
Leavitt reckons Debbie would still be riding in trials competitively today had she not suffered a very serious accident when stunt doubling for the 2008 movie “Yes Man” starring Jim Carrey in which she was hit by a car when riding a bike during a sequence which went horribly wrong.
British actress Amanda Holden was trained by Debbie and Lane to do stunts for the UK TV series ‘Amanda Holden – Fantasy Lives’ in 2010 in which Debbie and Lane both appeared.
Debbie, Dick Mann and Lane at Dick Mann’s house discussing a Matchless build. Bike is one of Dick’s creations, a Triel (Triumph engined Ariel)
Return…
Debbie really enjoyed her film work in Glasgow; she even cultivated a Scots accent during her stay. Both she and Lane are planning a return trip to spectate at the SSDT in a few years time, once their youngest child, daughter Rebecca, graduates from high-school. It will be really nice to have the couple back at the SSDT where they have so many happy memories of competing many years ago.
Debbie Evans-Leavitt and Trials Guru’s John Moffat taken in Glasgow, during a break from filming ‘Fast 6’ in Glasgow, September 2012. Photo: Trials Guru copyright, all rights reserved.
Both Debbie and Lane felt honoured to be asked to write a few lines each for the one-hundred years celebration book on the SSDT that the Edinburgh Club produced in 2011. Only problem was they didn’t get a copy, as the limited edition book was quickly sold out! However, after a plea, Kinlochleven trials enthusiasts David & Lorna Dougan who had a pristine copy, came to the rescue and gifted their copy to Lane and Debbie. The photo of Debbie in the book was taken by Eric Kitchen on Grey Mare’s Ridge, only half a mile from the Dougan’s home.
Finally…
Oh yes and finally, the ‘cool stuff’ she gave me as a memento of our Glasgow meeting? A commemorative tee-shirt and poster from the ‘On Any Sunday Re-union’, all signed by some of the all-time greats of USA bike-sport – now that’s what I call neat!
Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.
Trials Guru is always looking for something new or old, unseen or forgotten….
‘Kimages’ photographs are copyright: Kimages/Kim Ferguson, Fort William.
We have just added two new ‘selections’ on the front page which link into photo collections of ‘Kimages – Trials Photos‘ and ‘Heather Mead – SSDT Photos‘.
Both are female photographers who have built up a sizeable archive of trials photographs over the last couple of years, particularly at the Scottish Six Days as these are Scottish based photographers.
Kim has lived in the Fort William area most of her life and has a love for motorcycle sport and trials in particular having grown up with the SSDT passing her door-step. Her brother rode in trials too, so there are family connections.
Heather became involved taking photos at the Parc Ferme in Fort William, a place that is usually inaccessible to spectators, so we can see SSDT competitors preparing for their daily battle with the terrain and elements.
SSDT 2013 An official goes over the route card with rider 20, Ian Thompson – Photo Copyright: Heather Mead Photography, Dingwall.
Heather Mead and Kimages (Kim Ferguson) have recently given Trials Guru permission to display their handy-work. Please remember photographs are copywritten and are the property of the photographer, so please be respectful of that. There is no implied permission to post these images anywhere else unless by express permission of the copy-holder. This also applies to our other photographers, Jimmy Young, Armadale; Jeremy Whittet; Neil Sturgeon; John Hulme; Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven or any other images on this website.
Trials Guru have used some individual photos, which are the property of Mortons Media, Hornchurch this was done with their prior and express permission, for legal reasons, these are not for onward publication.
TRS ONE – Launched by former World Trials Champion, Jordi Tarres. The official UK importer is 10 times consecutive British Champion, Steve Saunders.
TRS launches to hit the market strongly with the new TRSONE.
The new trial Brand announced its creation end 2013 and is now ready to
start the definitive arrival with the new trial model TRSONEin three
displacements, 300, 280 and 250 cc.
During these two years previous to the presentation of the bike, the TRS
engineers and technical crew, have used the support from all kind of
professionals contributing to assure the right and proper evolution, reliability
and quality of the model itself.
TRS will soon start its production at the industrial facilities that the brand has
in Sant Fruitós del Bages (Barcelona), where the company has the R & D
department and from where bikes and other related products will de supplied
to the domestic market and the rest of the world (North and South America,
Europe as a whole, Japan and Australia).
TRS has arrived precisely on a tumultuous situation concerning the world of
trial in general terms and some of its factories more concretely, with a full
business plan for both, the product and the sporting activity.
SOME WORDS FROM JORDI TARRES: “TRS was born thanks to our passion for
Trial and experience accumulated over more than 30 years.
Due to the size of the project, we decided to work with lot of care since its
conception, design and industrialization using always the best and most
advanced technologies.
We have achieved our goal, a compact and light motorcycle in terms of weight,
with the necessary reliability and robustness to fight against any kind of
obstacle.
We have managed to supply a new and different feeling when riding it, due to
its geometry and suspension, becoming a real attractive and easy adaptation
for al kind of riders regardless of their level.
65 kg. offers a real feeling of lightness without damaging stability and giving the
real possibility to climb up to the top.
The engine has been developed and designed specifically for the practice of
trial, taking into consideration each and every single part of it to ensure the
best performance and maximum power, and placing inside numerous technical
improvements that make it unique in the market.
We have brought the bike at the highest level of “stress” during the time of
development and testing, to ensure the best success when reaching the
market”.
Prices are yet to be released, the official UK importer is Steve Saunders who is confident that supplies of this new machine will be available in the UK by October, 2015.
During the ninteen-seventies, Honda Motor Company decided to create a purely ‘Racing’ division, separate from their normal motorcycle production activities and core businesses. This saw the advent of Racing Service Center Corporation or ‘RSC‘ for short. Later, in September 1982, they developed from RSC, Honda Racing Corporation or HRC for short, which exists to this day and controls the racing activites of Honda. HRC produce and sell racing/competition motorcycles and spare parts. The parts, although well made and of high specification, are by their nature, not warranted for street use as they are for ‘racing applications only’. HRC European headquarters are based in Aalst in Belgium. The world HQ is at Asaka, Saitama, Japan. Below we can see some of RSC & HRC’s creations over the years.
Honda RTL300 – Short Stroke ‘Racing Trial’ of Nick Jefferies, 1977. Photo by Heath Brindley, Bristol.
Rob Shepherd aboard the factory 305cc short-stroke Honda. This rare photo was taken by Rob Edwards outside the Espluges Montesa factory in Barcelona. Photo courtesy and copyright: Rob Edwards, Middlesborough.
Honda RTL 300 Long-Stroke – Marland Whaley (USA) from 1977.
1977 – Scottish Six Days Trial at Glen Nevis – Marland Whaley on his factory Honda RTL300 (305cc) who finished in 13th position losing 102 marks for the week. Photo: Copyright Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven.
Marland Whaley on Blackwater in 1978 on the Honda RTL300 – Photo copyright: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven.
1984 – Honda RTL360 – Eddy Lejeune (Belgium) at Fersit, Scottish Six Days Trial. Factory only machine, not on general sale. Photo: Mark Lamplough, Coventry.
HRC RTL360 motor from 1984. Photo: Patrick Pissis, France.
February 2014 – Telford Off-Road & Racing Show. Jean Caillou (left) and Patrick Pissis from France, show their RTL360 from 1984. Photo: Copyright: Trials Guru/MoffatRacing 2014
Telford, February 2014 – RTL360. Photo, Copyright: Trials Guru/MoffatRacing, 2014
RTL360 generator side close up. Photo, Copyright: Trials Guru/Moffat Racing, 2014
Full factory machine, this is the RTL270SW Honda Racing Corporation/Rothmans Racing of Steve Saunders seen here at Ben Nevis in the SSDT from 1986 Photo: Trials Guru/John Moffat – All Rights Reserved
The RTL250SW was for factory Honda riders only, not available for general sale and had the single down tube frame with offset exhaust port.
1986 – SSDT Steve Saunders (Rothmans Honda RTL270SW) on Ben Nevis – Photo Copyright: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven
1986 – RTL270SW (270cc) Honda Racing Corporation/Rothmans Racing – with single down-tube frame and oil cooler. Strictly factory only.
Tommy Sandham’s Book – ‘Four Stroke Finale?-The Honda Trials Story’ Click… Honda/Four Stroke Finale?
John Moffat (Trials Guru) was fortunate to be permitted to take the ex-Eddy Lejeune 1982 RTL360 for a brief excursion at the Highland Classic 2 Day Trial at Alvie Estate in June 2015. This machine is now in the ownership of Jean Caillou.
The 1982 Honda/HRC RTL360 shown above was once the factory machine of World Champion, Belgian, Eddy Lejeune.
Jean Caillou, a French trials enthusiast who has a passion for the Honda brand was fortunate enough to meet with Lejeune at his home in Belgium. It was during this meeting that Eddy revealed that he still had the 1982 ex-factory machine in his possession. The RTL360 was disassembled, but all the parts were there at Eddy’s house.
Jean Caillou: “I met with Eddy Lejuene at his home and he explained that he had just bought his daughter a horse. So he presented me with the invoice for the horse and said that if I paid him the same figure that he had just recently paid for the horse, then I could have the Honda. I did not hesitate further and the deal was agreed. I had effectively paid for Eddy’s daughter’s horse, but I now owned the Eddy Lejeune 360!”
EDDY LEJEUNE:
Eddy Lejeune from Verviers, Belgium was three times FIM World Trials Champion (1982-1984) and seven times Belgian National Champion (1980-1986). He rode Honda for the majority of his trials career, switching to the Spanish Merlin in 1988 and then to the Honda owned Montesa for 1989/90 when he retired from top flight trials.
The Montesa Cota 4RT 260cc is the modern day equivalent of the RTL with the motor supplied by HRC. In Japan these machines are sold as Honda RTL260. Photo: Trials Guru/Moffat Racing.
TRIALS GURU - DEDICATED TO TRIAL 